Ædan mac Gabhrain

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Ædan mac Gabhrain (d. c.608), king of Dalriada. He was crowned on Iona in 574 by St Columba, his spiritual adviser, and was politically significant. Ædan established a powerful kingdom, first gaining authority over the Irish Dalriada at the convention of Druim Cett in 575. Successful campaigns included expeditions to the Orkneys and the Isle of Man. But in 603 he led a great army against the powerful Northumbrian king Æthelfryth at Degsastan, thought to be in Liddesdale. Soundly defeated and his army destroyed, he fled, which may be why, in Welsh tradition, he is known as ‘Ædan the traitor of the North’.

Audrey MacDonald

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